Long Beach parks rank 19th in nation

LONG BEACH — Long Beach has the 19th best citywide park system among the 40 largest U.S. cities, according to new rankings from the Trust for Public Land.

San Francisco was first and Sacramento second on the list released Wednesday. Los Angeles ranked 25th.

"As the backbone of our recreation system, city parks do so much to improve our quality of life," Mayor Bob Foster said in a statement.

"We're proud of our wonderful park system and for being recognized as one of the best in the nation."

The rating system, ParkScore, is based equally on park access, park size and services, and investment.

Long Beach, with 70 percent of its population able to access a park within a half-mile of their residence, was tied with Austin in total score and ranked just ahead of Dallas.

A total of 10.3 percent of Long Beach's 33,895 acres is parkland, with a median park size of 3.2 acres. The city spends $130.54 per resident annually on its parks. The average yearly spending among the 40 cities ranked was $105.95. The highest was Washington, D.C., at $303.45.

Long Beach lagged behind the average number of playgrounds, with 1.5 per 10,000 residents. The average was 2.17.

A total of 348 new acres of open space have been added in the city since 2002.

Specialty facilities have been built in response to community feedback, including five skate parks since 2006, four dog parks since 2009 and three community garden areas since 2006.

"Long Beach has worked hard to improve park access over the last 10 years," said George Chapjian, director of Long Beach Parks, Recreation and Marine.

"We are constantly striving to increase access to parks and will work toward moving up to the Top 10 when the Trust for Public Land issues their next ParkScore."

The Trust for Public Land's report findings and map analysis can be found at parkscore.tpl.org/.